How Wegovy doctors assess and prescribe semaglutide in the UK

Step 1: your prescriber establishes whether Wegovy is clinically appropriate

Before any prescription is considered, a doctor or Independent Prescriber reviews your baseline information: current weight, height, BMI, existing medical diagnoses, current medicines, and relevant history including any history of pancreatitis or thyroid conditions. This is not a formality. The licensed eligibility criteria for Wegovy in the UK specify adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or a BMI of 27 or above alongside at least one weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, or obstructive sleep apnoea. Lower BMI thresholds apply for certain ethnic backgrounds under UK guidance, reflecting well-established differences in health risk at lower body weights.

Prescribers are also checking for contraindications. Wegovy is not suitable during pregnancy, whilst breastfeeding, or for anyone trying to conceive. It is not licensed for under-18s. A personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma, or a condition called MEN2, would prompt careful discussion. The semaglutide overview on our treatment pages sets out the broader picture of what the medicine does and how it works.

This step is where the clinical relationship begins. Getting it right matters far more than getting it fast.

Step 2: your prescription is issued and your titration plan is confirmed

Once a prescriber is satisfied that Wegovy is appropriate, they issue a prescription and set a titration plan. The starting dose is 0.25mg once weekly. The schedule moves upward (to 0.5mg, then 1.0mg, then 1.7mg, and ultimately 2.4mg) with roughly four weeks at each level. The purpose of this gradual increase is to let your system adjust, since most of the gastrointestinal side effects (nausea is the most common, followed by changes to bowel habit and occasionally vomiting) are most noticeable early on and typically settle as your body adapts.

A question our prescribers hear most weeks is whether you can skip dose steps to get results faster. The honest answer is that the titration schedule exists to protect you, not to slow you down. Rushing through dose increases tends to produce worse nausea and a higher chance of stopping altogether. The MHRA-approved titration pathway reflected in the Wegovy SmPC is the standard a good prescriber follows, full stop.

For people who have already been on semaglutide 2.4mg for some time, the Wegovy treatment page covers what is now possible at the higher 7.2mg maintenance dose, approved in the UK in 2026. Your prescriber will assess whether moving to that dose is appropriate based on your response and tolerance so far.

Step 3: ongoing clinical review, what responsible prescribing looks like after the first pen

Responsible prescribing does not end when the first box leaves the pharmacy. Every repeat supply of Wegovy should follow a clinical review. NICE's guidance on semaglutide (TA875) is explicit that treatment should be reconsidered if a patient achieves less than 5% weight loss after six months at the maintenance dose. Prescribers in a well-run service are tracking this. They are also checking whether any new symptoms have emerged, reviewing any changes to other medicines, and confirming that treatment is still the right call.

At nume, no repeat order is processed without this re-review. That is not unusual for a regulated pharmacy (it is what the GPhC expects) but it is worth knowing, particularly if you are exploring where to buy Wegovy and comparing services. You can read about the NHS England guidance that sets the standard for clinical oversight in weight management on the NHS England weight-management injections page.

If you are considering what this process looks like through a private prescriber compared to NHS channels, it helps to understand both routes clearly. The Wegovy alternatives and comparators page covers how semaglutide sits alongside other licensed options.

Step 4: verifying that your prescriber and pharmacy are legitimate

Wegovy is widely counterfeited. The MHRA has issued repeated warnings about fake pens sold online, and in 2025 alone enforcement operations resulted in the seizure of around 20 million doses of illegally traded weight-loss medicines, worth an estimated £45 million. Fake pens have contained insulin in some cases, a risk that is genuinely dangerous.

The first check is simple: any online pharmacy legally dispensing Wegovy must appear on the GPhC register. You can verify us at GPhC registration number 9012878. Any seller offering semaglutide without a prescription, via social media, or at prices far below the market norm should be treated as a red flag. The MHRA's Yellow Card scheme at yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk accepts reports of suspect sellers as well as side effects, using it helps protect other patients too.

If you want to understand the private online prescribing process in more detail, the Wegovy online prescribers page covers how digital consultations work under GPhC standards. For anyone who has been searching for local options, finding a semaglutide prescriber near you explains the landscape of in-person and remote prescribing across the UK.

When you're ready to speak with our prescribers and check your eligibility, start your free consultation here.